


The fool

by hoxadrine



Category: Hakuouki, イケメン戦国 時をかける恋 | Ikemen Sengoku: Toki o Kakeru Koi (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Birdverse, Courtesan AU, F/M, Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, Kitsune, Reminiscing, Somehow a character study, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:41:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24693955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoxadrine/pseuds/hoxadrine
Summary: Settling in his new life on the Red Light District of Yoshiwara, Sanosuke reminisces the seven times he has felt like an idiot in front of his old lover.
Relationships: Harada Sanosuke (Hakuouki)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 8
Collections: The Birdverse





	The fool

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I've written this with my two feet but got tired of turning it around and around  
> Also I never write in past tense.  
> the fool is I.

A pretty teenage girl with an orange hairpin adorning her inky black hair brought him and his friends their seventh bottle of sake to their table, and he doesn’t so much as try blurting his thanks to her, smiling expectantly as she is, his head spiraling down with several thoughts. To be frank, he's not in the mood to fish for a potential customer—plus it’s his night off, the least he should concentrate is to help Hijikata-san bring more clients to their brothel right now; that’s up to one of their future processions. 

He’s most likely been like this, in his own bubble for the sum of the whole day, all things considered. More like since yesterday though, after the event that’d shaken the relative normalcy his new life in Yoshiwara has taken. 

And he can’t stop thinking about the number seven—something that Sanosuke isn't at all fond of. It makes him feel especially stupid. 

Especially when now it marked the seventh time in seven years Chiba Natsumi has stumbled upon his life out of thin air—not making him feel any less like an idiot as the very first. 

Gulping down his cup in one go, he ignores Shinpachi’s skeptical glance his way, pretending to be entertained with the couple of flashy ladies dancing nearby. In truth, it’s a good time for him to call it a night and leave, but he’s aware Shinpachi and Heisuke aren’t done recounting the events that happened last night. 

One of the pretty dancers then flashes a cheeky grin at Heisuke before losing herself in her sensual sway. It brings Sanosuke back in time to a moment when he was, as well, that cocky and young. When he let himself be goofy and in love. 

That same disarming grin is how he met her at that bar, right before she punched a ronin square in his nose in front of him, after the guy tried to lay a hand on her. The sound of bones breaking didn't stutter him as much as the daring sight of an otherwise innocent girl standing her ground in the middle of a dirty bar, surrounded by dirtier thugs. 

"My nose! Y-you… bitch!"

He’d felt so stupid back when he recounted it, just gawking at her instead of stepping in and help a girl in distress as he was taught to. Not like she needed much of it to begin with, when an actual fight broke in and she dispatched the enraged group so cleanly—a fight he ended up joining way later—but still. 

The scuffle ended up on the streets, and Sanosuke perhaps wouldn’t have had the chance of telling the story to his friends, if not for the girl knocking the last ronin out with her own geta before he snuck up behind him, trying to avenge his fallen pals. The guy fell like heavy lead, barely giving Sano a moment to step aside and avoid being knocked down with him.

“My hero!” She teased—it was _totally_ a joke, she’d been the one to practically deal with all six of them—before making a show of throwing her arms around his neck and dropping a noisy kiss on his cheek. And he’d kept on being a total idiot, lost for anything to say, not even a wheezy laugh and less so when she left without any further ado, disappearing in the middle of the night. 

Just what had happened and who the hell was that mysterious girl?

Reminiscing about it, the rest of their meetings haven’t left him in any better light. The second time they met it was just as accidental as the first, only that the fight was just an argument between him and Shinpachi.

“Oi, it wasn’t on me! It was on Okita that you two stayed!” He’d complained at his friends’ annoyed faces, walking past a fruit stall and throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

“You could have said _something_ to him, you ass!” Heisuke barked in response a few steps back, deciding a moment later to throw an orange at his head in retaliation. Sanosuke noticed just in time to dodge the projectile and duck his head down, flying past his head. 

And his stammering came back with force as the fruit didn’t hit the ground, the sound of someone deftly grabbing it midair catching his full attention. 

“Man, I love these!” The redhead girl from the bar pretended to be admiring the orange in her hand, smiling that pretty sassy grin he’s seen before, “Thanks again, handsome…” She winked playfully at him and he gaped a little.

“Well, er—” 

But to his further embarrassment, the girl had already turned and walked off before he could even say a word back, leaving him like a total idiot… _once more._

It was only at Shinpachi’s not-so-friendly pat between his shoulders when his senses came back. “...’Again’?” He protested, “How’s it you’re always the one getting the pretty chicks?” 

“Yeah, how’s _that_ for?” Heisuke joined the grouching, “Anyway, I’m not paying for that!”

They say third’s the charm, but when it came to this girl, the only thing their third meeting brought was a special place just for her on the forefront of Sano’s mind. His possibility for providing her a better impression of himself? Not a chance in hell. 

Kondou-san had requested to acquire extra sets of brand new weapons for the shortly arriving batch of trainees, and apparently nobody else could be trusted with the purchase but him. Especially when said purchase involved a negotiation with the rival dojo located North of Hino—the Takeda clan’s dojo. 

In truth, dealing with them was a small price to pay, considering they worked and had close relationships with Uesugi, nearly the best blacksmith on Edo. Usually these tasks fell on Saito or Sanan-san, both of which weren’t available. However, Hijikata wasn’t about to risk a grudge with Takeda Shingen of all people, and didn’t fully trust sending Shinpachi or Okita as envoys for the task. Shinpachi would most likely never get there and go drinking. Okita would pick up a fight out of nowhere. 

Serves him for being a reliable guy, he guessed. 

“I come with Harada Sanosuke,” Yamazaki—who’d come along and happened to be one of the locals, familiar around the Takeda clan—introduced him to one of the Takeda’s subordinates, a guy in short brown hair that couldn’t be any older than Heisuke, “His dojo wishes to partake in business for fresh weapons,”

“Kondou-san heard you were short on medicine, so we hope Ishida’s special could help you.” Sano said casually, hoping that the arch of the guy’s brow—Sanada, if he recalled correctly—was from having piqued his interest and not otherwise. 

“Alright. Come with me, then…”

The training grounds weren’t bustling with people as he’d assumed, although a flash of auburn and orange were the first thing that caught Sanosuke’s eye. A redhead girl and a blonde man were having a friendly spar, if their loud and mouthy taunting for anyone to see was anything to go by. Though the sight made Sano tilt his head back in some certain recognition— _could it be… working for the Takeda?_

She must have sensed someone looking at her, a toothy grin cracking up her face after golden met amber, appearing to have lost interest in sparring all so suddenly. She then winked, fully amused and in a flirtatious way… before she _vanished_ into thin air.

_What...?_

His feet stopped in its tracks, surprised to his core, not helping glancing in every direction to see where she'd gone to. It was starting to become familiar for her to disappear on him after a mere interaction, but outright vanishing before his very eyes felt like another thing entirely. 

“I wouldn’t bother looking out if I were you...” A rich, warm voice called out from the shoji doors proper, and Sano felt a tinge of embarrassment at accidentally having been ogling the place so openly. “You won’t find her if she doesn’t want to be found.” 

However, the man in question didn’t appear to be skeptical or wary of his behaviour; a gleam in the grey eyes that met him giving away full amusement at the situation and, perhaps, a slight hint of harmless curiosity. At least, Sano has seen that warm, kind look coming from Kondou-san quite a few times to presume that. 

Plus, he seemed to speak from personal experience. 

Noticing he was being addressed by the one Lord Takeda Shingen, he instantly snapped his back straight in the best way he knew to show respect. “I heard Kondou Isami is looking for more weaponry,” Takeda said, appearing interested, "Though I haven't been told your name, my young man…"

He bowed briefly, "Harada Sanosuke at your service, my Lord."

A pleased hum on his right made his back stiffen in an instant, finding the girl resting casually against the wooden frame—as if she’d always been standing there all along. She appeared to be most interested in his presence alone, fixing him with a heated, flirtatious look, while calmly twirling a lock of red hair between her index finger.

"Harada Sanosuke…" She drew his name from her lips slowly, sensually. "A lovely name for my handsome savior," 

For how long was she going to keep that lie? Had she boasted that to everyone she knew? He tried delivering some clever retort but in truth, all he could think of was the way his name sounded coming from her lips, his head feeling fuzzy. 

He felt like such an idiot. But what the hell? Was Shinpachi’s lack of common sense with the ladies rubbing off on him? 

Yet he never liked the sound of his own name so damn much.

Takeda chuckled softly, "Now now, my dear. Don't tease our guest here…"

She cast her gaze off to the floor, straightening. "Apologies, my Lord." She said softly, not entirely taking the admonishment too seriously though showing some courtesy nonetheless. 

Sano wanted quite more than strictly necessary to ask for her name too—at this point, he got rather interested in more than merely that, though it could suffice for the moment and place. Just her name would do. Just… 

But Takeda unfortunately didn't give him the opening he needed. 

"So, shall we come in?" He urged, opening the doors and inviting him in, showing off his best manners. Perhaps it was his own way of guarding the girl presumably under his wing, or he simply couldn’t bother with introducing them, though Sanosuke sensed by his genuine politeness that it was some way of the former. 

This time—luckily, lest he’d start to become spooked—she didn’t disappear just as suddenly, just leisurely walking back to the training grounds. However, as she turned on her heels to flash him a cheeky grin on her way, that turned out to be a familiar way to bid farewell for the two of them. 

That, and all the words lodged on his throat. Leaving him like a fool for a _third time_ , no less. 

Months passed after that, and a vague, unspoken approval for him to return to the Takeda dojo in Kondou-san’s stead to conduct more business anytime soon. Spring was upon them and the streets were bustling with couples, laughter, and girls with flowers adorning their heads—a tranquil view Sano felt he could get very used to. 

Except that, for some reason, he couldn’t get the redhead girl out of his fucking mind. 

Only thing he’d learned all this time was that aside from being under the Takeda, the girl was somewhat acquainted with Yamazaki, clues leading up to the point of training in the same dojo. To his bad fortune, he didn’t even know where that was from the start, and hadn’t seen the guy ever since. 

For some reason, the utter lack of knowledge seemed to spur his mind with more thoughts of her. There was just so much he couldn’t place—he wanted to put a name to her pretty face, to get the chance to get a good look at her sparkling eyes for more than a second, watch the petal shape of her lips move as she laughed.

How did she manage to beat up six ronin with her fist— _and geta_ , he couldn’t possibly forget about that—back at the bar? In all his years, Sano hadn’t seen a woman stand her own ground like that, very much less handling their own asses to so many guys at once. 

Just who was she? Where had she come from? How did she keep managing to question his views on women over and over? There certainly was so much more about her she even let people know. Where had she been all this time? 

_What was her name?_

And so, when the chance of returning to the Takeda dojo presented, Sano couldn’t offer himself any faster. He needed any answer he could get, and she hadn’t shown her face around Hino in a long time—though not like that mattered so much, considering his former lame chances for conversation. 

“Oh, it’s you again.” The brunette guy, Sanada, didn’t appear to have been expecting him alone and without Yamazaki, judging by his skeptical glances. “Do you have any appointments?” 

“I have a letter from Lord Takeda wishing to purchase our old weapons,” Sano stabbed a thumb past his shoulder to the entrance, to where his loaded horse was. 

Sanada seemed to fidget a little. “Um, alright, but—”

“Just let him in, Yuki. He’s harmless…”

Sano’s eyes jumped to the source of the feminine voice, wide and in anticipation. And there she was, walking to them with a sensual swag on her hips, her dark red hakama—had he ever seen a woman wearing a hakama way better than some men?—accentuating her waist. Though he didn’t ogle her that much, his gaze glued to that trademark disarming grin she always wore in his presence, the corners of his mouth cracking up a smile of his own at the sight of her. 

He felt _finally_ in luck, his secret mission of finding her turning up good this fast. 

“Be a good lad and tell Lord Shingen that Harada Sanosuke,” She drew his name slowly once again, as if savoring the words on her tongue. His heart definitely skipped a beat at that, “Is here with his request, would you?” 

Sanada shooted an odd look at her, but without anything else for a comeback he obliged, heading inside silently. He went to unload his horse, keeping an eye on the girl now that they were alone and, perhaps, trying to buy himself some time to make up something proper. 

“Here. Let me help you out, handsome…” Instead of waiting for his approval, she scooted to the horse first, slumping a full bag over her shoulder and working on the load herself—almost as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do so. A second discovery in merely minutes. 

“Er—” There he was again, stuttering before her. How stupid could he get? 

Of all odd people he’d met in his life, for sure he’d ever met such a brazen woman like her. 

She flashed him a knowing smile. “What? You think I was going to let you do this all by yourself?” She said nonchalantly, adjusting the bag and starting to head inside, leaving him behind. 

“Y’ name…” Sano blurted out before he could stop himself. But at least that was enough to make her stop in her tracks, sparing him a glance over her shoulder. He cleared his throat before making a worst fool of himself. “Sorry. I just… what’s your name?” 

And there it was, _the_ smile. “Natsumi.” 

At that, time slowed to a small pause and the fog in his head seemed to clear, as if just with her name alone most of her mysterious character made sense. Though it did, in some way.

 _Natsumi_ … he tested the sound in his mind, the warm and cheery undertones. She was bright and lively like summer, flirty and casual, giving the impression of being quite aware of what she was doing with him. And judging by the heated look in those golden eyes, savoring it to no end. 

He slung the other bag in a rush, afraid she’d walk inside without him, but after that she glanced to her sides, as if making sure they were out of prying ears, before turning to face him fully. “Now’s the time when you ask me for drinks, don’t you think?” She proposed. 

This time it was him who could work a knowing smile of his own. She _totally knew_ what was on his mind. “Anytime you want.” He managed to say. 

His luck seemed to run out after Lord Takeda and his subordinate appeared on the shoji doors, waiting for the two of them. However, their presence didn’t seem to make her stutter at all, shooting him a wink.

“Don’t you worry, doll. I know where to find you.”

He hasn’t noticed he’s been staring at his sake cup for way too long until a familiar hand waves at his face, somewhat worryingly. “Oi, Sano! You there?” Shinpachi insists, concerned enough that he’s decided to drop his vigilance on the remaining alcohol and let Heisuke get his hands on the jug. 

“Hey,” He flinches a little, sounding gloomier than he’d like, removing himself from his reflection on the cup to address Shinpachi, “Yeah. Just, you know... thinking about stuff...” 

Heisuke frowns harder, not seeming to like it one bit. “Stuff called Natsumi, I bet,” Puffing in discontent, he insists on refilling his cup, “Just drop it for tonight, Sano.” 

“He’s right. It’s our night off!”

“Here, have another and let’s watch—”

“I’m fine, Heisuke.” He tries reassuring the guy, though opts on pushing his cup away. “Think I’m calling it a night though,” 

There’s a flash of orange and red in the corner of his vision, compelling him to follow and find the source—a bad habit he’s grown to have for seven years or so. But things are different tonight, and his shallow hopes are not so shallow anymore, now that he’s had the stunning revelation she’s been alive all this time. 

Rising from his seat, Sano makes his choice clear, adjusting his dark haori and nodding to his friends before heading out. “Tsk. Whatever, man.” Shinpachi doesn’t agree but leaves him be, at least. “See you home I guess...” 

Winter’s not leaving anytime soon and that much is obvious, men and women alike filling up whatever bars and inns there are in the Red Light District almost to the brim, eager for company to pass the chilly nights. But he somewhat appreciates the tranquility it brings, and the twinkle of the red lanterns on the otherwise empty streets, just with a dog far up ahead barking at the shadows. 

Not luckily so, that’s what reminds him of the fifth time he made himself a fool with Natsumi. 

It was near summer, and not many lanterns could suffice the darkness in the streets, with a starless sky as there was. Still, that didn’t stop Sanosuke from going for a walk after dinner, his feet knowingly leading him to that inconspicuous inn he’s been quite drawn to as of late. 

The dark clouds weren’t a good excuse to stop him from looking forward to… he wasn’t entirely sure _what_. Not like he’d find the girl in town at that time of the night, very much less so with the skies about to drop a downpour at any moment. However, walking helped clear his mind, especially when said mind was not so pleasantly filled with too many thoughts of her. 

Truth be told, Sano wasn’t a stranger to the myths and tales the townspeople used to boast about, mostly between drinks and beautiful women, such as ones of spirits and people definitely not human roaming their world. There could be the chance this girl was one—a trickster spirit bent on messing with his head, a siren wanting to capture his heart with the sound of her laughter. 

Or it could be that simply she was someone so completely _unlike_ any woman he knew, he couldn’t fully come in terms with it. That was, sure thing, the most logical answer he could come up with. 

He could admit to most people he was a romantic, but damn, not within reason. 

Within reason as well, the rain finally caught him under, forcing him to take shelter under the roof of a closed shop, of all things definitely not looking forward to catching a cold. A clue, he pondered to himself; that’s what he was kind of looking for, a way to figure the girl out. 

For a considerable amount of time, the drizzle kept him company, the only other sound being of doors sliding close to keep the rain out. Under the roof of the inn he never made to, an old dog barked at the wind and nothing at all, but aside from that he was left alone with his thoughts.

That is, until the tranquility of it all broke off all in a sudden. 

“Psst!” There was a noise behind him. 

Startled, he automatically gripped his katana and turned to face whoever wanted most likely to mess with him at that unfortunate moment. Only to, in the next second, become close and personal with someone dressed in reds and oranges—nearly jolting at the sudden surprise. 

In the sheer dark, she caught the hand gripping the handle way too easily, golden eyes flashing an odd bright yellow. “I see you’re happy to see me too.” Yet the look of those eyes faded too fast, leaving him to presume it was some trick from the lights of the lanterns.

She deftly redirected his attention to her lips, curved in an impish smile, some stray wet bangs clinging to her forehead—if from running to get to him or being under the rain, he couldn’t fully tell. Still, in the middle of near darkness and with partially rumpled clothes, she still looked more than pretty to his eyes. 

Perhaps it was merely that smile of hers what captivated him that much.

“Geez, how do you keep doing that?” Sano wheezed a little, trying to calm down—especially his racing heart. “And what are you doing here in the rain?” 

Her touch was the only source of warmth he could feel, fingers traveling from his knuckles to grasp at his hand proper, slowly bringing him out of his shelter and into a dark gap between the stores. “What do you think, doll?” She teased with a girly giggle, tugging him further into the darkness. 

Somewhere on the back of his mind, he thought she might as well would try to finally steal his soul like the siren she was, but truthfully so, he couldn’t possibly care less. Not with the way that disarming grin was dragging him into her, so alluring, so tempting. 

Droplets fell between them but there was nothing Sano could do but keep his gaze fixed on her face, dazzled with the heady look in her eyes. Gawking— _again, like an idiot_ —and inhaling heavily through his nose as her back hit the wall and she trapped herself between him and it, guiding his hand around her waist.

He should have been certain to know what she was trying to do, but his mind was in such a daze that when she pulled him down and closer, he couldn’t prepare himself for it somehow. 

At first, she softly brushed her lips with his; testing, tasting, most probably waiting for him to make a move. But when he couldn’t for the sake of them both—and hells, it was so _frustrating_ —Natsumi opted on doing it herself, closing her mouth on his more firmly and wrapping her arms around his neck. 

Like the fool he was, it took him way too long than he’d have liked to react properly, though he inwardly excused himself of being taken his breath away to think straight. Their first kiss was wet, slowly yet surely getting soaked under the rain, but when they pulled away for air that was all it took for his mind to finally clear.

And to pull her in for more. 

And another.

And one more, their tongues adding to their state of wetness. 

In the end, they did reach the inn, running together hand in hand, laughing like the fools they—at least in this case—both were, hurriedly stripping off their sandals and wringing out their hair before heading in for drinks. They talked their heads off the entire time and long into the night, about everything and nothing at all, and Sano discovered she was a stronger drinker than Shinpachi and definitely not a trickster spirit wanting to mess with him.

Merely a woman unlike anyone he’d ever known. And one he looked forward to knowing everything there was about. 

“... Sano?” 

A voice pulls him out of his reverie, glancing to the entrance of a heavily packed up bar nearby his brothel, where a flash of reds and oranges takes form into the person he’s been mindlessly looking for all these years. 

“Hey, there,” Natsumi, seven years older yet all the way prettier, stands there alone, relaxing against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Not twirling her hair like she so often used to, not flashing him that trademark cheeky smile of hers, but too much has changed since then. 

“Hey, yourself...” He can’t help but smile, however. No matter what, deep in his heart, she’s always a welcoming sight. 

“Heading somewhere?”

“Nowhere in particular. You?”

She shakes her head, extricating herself from her spot in a somewhat lazy way. “Mind if I join you nowhere?” 

A part of him wants to say no, the same part that up to now feels having been toyed with and lied upon. But his heart, though, it begs to differ, trying to reassure him that she has a good explanation for her vanishing, that she wouldn’t have bothered to look and find him again if she didn’t care about him anymore. That somewhere inside the dark and hardened look in her eyes, there’s still the woman he, unbiddenly, unknowingly, in his sheer idiocy, so hopelessly fell for. 

He tilts his head to the side and she doesn’t waste her chance, walking side to side in silence for a while, the only sound accompanying them of muffled raucous laughter from a couple of bars ahead, the red lanterns swaying softly in the cold wind. In truth, he’s not so sure to make conversation, doubtful he wouldn’t say something mean or unprompted if he opens his mouth. 

It’s when, through the corner of his eye, he sees a small cold shiver coursing through her, and he doesn’t think about it and removes his haori to gently wrap it around her shoulders, when she breaks the silence and chuckles low, pleasantly. “Always the gentleman, aren’t you?” 

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

“On the contrary,” As if testing the waters, she scoots an inch closer to him while walking, “I always loved that about you, Sano…” 

He blinks, something stirring within him, his stride almost faltering. And here he was thinking everything had changed between—and about—them, yet she still retains the ability to make him question once again his own views and principles of the world. 

Why did such a self-sufficient, strong woman like her would approve of a man like him extending her a courtesy? Why would she consent to him still trying to protect her, when she never needed anything but? What has he ever done right to actually catch the eye of a woman so unlike anyone he’d ever known? 

It all brings him back to the sixth time he felt like an utter fool when she was around.

Almost all the guys knew about her by now from one way to another—though most especially Shinpachi, with all his damned nosing about. Okita had found them once having one of their impromptu tea and sweets and tried to tease him about it, only to have Natsumi tease the guy back in her own sassy way. On another occasion they’ve crossed paths with Saito, who’d introduced himself and, if innocently, wondered if she was a relative of his, only to scatter off politely when she’d grabbed Sano’s hand to prove him wrong. 

Heisuke and Shinpachi had their own piece with her when one time they’d followed Sano into the usual inn she’d always stay in, abruptly taking a seat on their table and swarming her with questions and some embarrassing comments she’d replied in a surprising amicable manner. They’d even tried to join in for drinks and would have gone talking their heads off if not for Sano shooing them off and demanding they’d let him have his date in peace—though naturally remained being the topic of the night even after those two had left. 

One afternoon had found him walking to said inn outside Hino in her search, after waiting their whole date time for her to join him for tea near his dojo, concern hurrying his steps. Natsumi had never stood him up in the past, and there was no true reason for that to happen now. 

At that time of day, most rooms were open and empty except for her usual one, which he took as a good sign and qualified for an end to his search. He knocked two times and announced himself. 

“Natsumi? It’s me, I’m coming in.” 

“Sano, _don’t—_!” 

And he would have totally stopped and left her to her privacy, if not the small creak of the door providing him the strangest sight of a massive patch of fluffy auburn fur at the end of the futon. 

Fur that _moved_ and _twitched_ nervously. 

He couldn’t help his eyes travel further up his lover’s figure; at the fur disappearing behind her legs, at the orange sash tying up her hakama moving up and down with her ragged breaths, at her open and tugged down kimono and her naked shoulder baring a bleeding gash. Up at her scrunched up face with dried blood and tears and two furry auburn ears at the crown of her head that could pass as the ones of a fox. 

Her…— _tail?_ It seemed attached to her lower back like one—rattled and slammed against the futon, startling off his shock. “J-just close the door!” Natsumi hissed with difficulty, and he obeyed out of instinct. 

“What… how—what is this…?” 

There was no way he could form a proper sentence with such a shocking sight before him, rendered still on his spot, gawking at her like an idiot. Though in his defense, this time he had quite the good reason to; aside from the dirt and blood dripping down her chest and staining her binds and kimono, she was sporting _a huge fox tail and ears._

Not even the wildest tales in town could have prepared him for such a sight. 

Tears kept running down her face, “Sano… I c-can’t patch it up by myself…” A gust of wind made her body shudder and that… _tail_ to twitch once again, but she begged with her shaking hands to prompt his focus on her bleeding injury, on the juncture of her neck and shoulder, “ _Please…_ ” 

It was the smell of blood what brought him out of his stupor, kneeling before her sprawled out form and scrambling for more gauze to bandage her up. She felt frighteningly cold to the touch, wincing and hissing in pain a couple of times but otherwise trusting him to do a good job of her wound, which he did. 

And there was a world of questions that bounced up to Sano’s mind, but it was after spotting a somewhat haunting look in her uncanningly yellow eyes when he settled for one. 

“What happened to you?” 

She swallowed a sob, huddling close and tucking herself into his arms like looking for comfort. His breath hitched, never having seen her so small and vulnerable before, almost unable to believe this woman and Natsumi, his so smug and confident lover, were in fact the same person. 

“I killed a man...” She said shyly, confirming his suspicions. The first kill was always the hardest. 

Their afternoon meetup was postponed for a much needed talk instead, and he only left her room to bring back food and hot tea. They snuggled together for the rest of the evening, binded chests brushing together, and Natsumi finally explained her adopted ability to vanish before everyone’s eyes—the product of a potion given by her Lord Takeda and, aside from giving her a home to come back to and a purpose in life, another of the main reasons why she so devotely served him and was about to become a full-fledged shinobi for. 

And perhaps it could have been that he already was head over heels for her, but the fact that his crazy theory about Natsumi being a trickster spirit might have been real and true now, it didn’t truly end up bothering him. 

And how could it? She already had turned his world upside down, without needing to turn into a fox for it. 

In the end—and seven years later, he knows for certain now—it’s her one of a kind nature what he’d always loved the most about her. And most likely secondly, her remarkable ability of giving him something he’d no idea he had always needed until then.

But that somewhat changed too, and Sanosuke knows what he needs now. 

He can see his brothel far ahead, and so, before losing his chance, he takes in a deep breath in an attempt to prepare himself for whatever it is she has to say for herself. “The guys have too many questions to ask you. I do too…” He sighs, gazing off into the distance.

Natsumi hums, “Okay, that much is obvious. What if we meet up tomorrow night for drinks?” She offers, looking willing to ease his concerns, giving him the chance he was looking forward to having. “My treat.”

However, Sano can’t help shooting her a skeptical look. “Are you even going to be here tomorrow?” The accusation escapes him before he can take it back.

The remark makes her stop in her tracks, gently pulling on his haori to make him face her properly. And the smile Natsumi gives him is the kindest, most tender he’s seen in a damn long time—probably the first coming from her. 

And the reassurance is something that, again, didn’t know he needed until now. Damn her. 

“ _Sanosuke…_ ” She breathes ever so softly, and as carefully as the hands that she wraps around his shoulders, “I’ll be around for as long as you want me.” Her eyes look as bright as always, even in the dim lights of the night, “Is that alright with you?”

Another sigh escapes him, his body knowing before his mind how much he’s longed to hold her in his arms like that again. “Yeah…” 

He’s not about to make a fool of himself in front of her once again—it’s as good a time as any for that to put a stop. How long has it been since he wanted something for himself, since he’s let himself be selfish, for once? He may be the biggest idiot for loving her, a free, wild spirit, but he might as well be for that alone and not for letting her go now that she’s reappeared in his life after seven years of mourning. 

Taking her face in his hands, Sano leans down and kisses her, slowly yet firmly, reassuring himself with the warmth of her mouth and the taste of her petal shaped lips that she’s real, not a product of his longing anymore. That she’s back in his arms, and they finally have the chance to be together again, even in a world of shallow promises such as the one he now lives in. 

And the calloused hands tangling in his hair only encourage him to be brave, and let himself love again. 


End file.
